If He Hollers
by Steras
Summary: When Axel transfers from his dumpy community college to the prestigious Radiant Garden College, he becomes obsessed with Roxas, an incredibly interesting young man who strives to make his widowed father proud.


A/N: I'm never sure what to put for these author notes besides the obligatory "I don't own this series!", but I will just say for now that I hope you a.) enjoy this story and b.) seriously consider reviewing it. Hearing your input is incredibly valuable to me and encourages me to stick with it. Thank you!

**_If__ He Hollers_**  
-Fateful Encounter-  
-

There was something in Roxas that was clearly different, clearly special that made him stand out to everyone who noticed him. He didn't know what it was and certainly didn't try to have that effect, but that was just who Roxas was. It was like he was made of different stuff than everyone else.

It might have been his wide eyes, impossibly blue. They were a shade that most people never spotted in a human iris until they met him or someone in his family. People called them cerulean or sapphire; Roxas just called them his eyes. People told him they'd do anything to have a color like his and Roxas just said that he liked them well enough, too.

It could have been his clothing, the thin cotton shirts, snug jeans, and occasional sweaters. He wasn't the type to care about fashion, but he tried to look presentable when he went to class or into town. Perhaps people noticed his large shoes that he wore because of his long toes, rather than big feet. Maybe it was his spiky blond hair that went in every which-way direction or his voice, kind and musical, even though he did not possess the ability to sing.

"Roxas, you're just Roxas, that's really the only way I can describe it," his friend from high school, Pence, once said. "Don't worry, it's a good thing."

"Thanks, I guess," Roxas had replied, not completely satisfied with the answer.

Although Roxas himself could not identify it, what attracted people to him was the way he constantly, and unknowingly, shattered everyone's expectations. To strangers, he was a beautiful man, likely to be vain and snobby, but after sharing one conversation with him, they quickly took back their harsh opinions. No, Roxas was polite to everyone. A bit shy, though he would hold a conversation with you if you spoke to him. However, although Roxas was good to everyone, only a small group of people could say that Roxas considered them his friends.

To Roxas, there were two categories for the people whom he interacted with daily: friend or acquaintance. Someone could talk to the blond day in and day out, but if Hayner or Sora asked, "Who's that?" there was a nine point five out of ten chance that Roxas would say, "oh, an just an acquaintance of mine." It was always that word, but he never meant it cruelly. That was just another facet of Roxas' personality. To be friends with Roxas meant that he placed you higher than he did himself, that he would fiercely defend you if need be, and that he saw that you were genuinely good inside.

Everyone in Roxas' suite were his friends. He wouldn't live so closely with anyone who wasn't, which was why he was so glad that Radiant Garden College had permitted co-ed suites and apartments for all returning students. Co-ed living arrangements used to be a privilege for seniors only (he was a sophomore) at the prestigious school, however, the administration listened to the students, agreeing that it was important to allow boys and girls to live side by side, especially since the campus had a large population of GLBTQ students. All they asked was to make wise decisions when it came to living with or near boyfriends or girlfriends, something that a lot of people chose to ignore.

Their suite consisted of three doubles. Roxas lived with his friend Hayner, from Twilight Town. His cousin Sora, who lived faraway on Destiny Islands, stayed with his best friend Riku, and Olette shared a room with quiet Namine. There was a bathroom with two toilets and two showers. The girls of the suite marked both a toilet and shower with signs that said _Ladies Only_, which the men, thankfully, never fought. Lastly, each suite was equipped with a lounge that had a loveseat, two cushy chairs, a round table with seats, and a coffee table. Their coffee table had a TV with a Wii and PS2 hooked up to it and the sofa had a blanket knitted by Hayner's mother draped over it. The round table was littered with sheets of paper and pens, and the residents often worked on their homework together around it.

Roxas loved his suite very much. It was his home and he felt comfortable with everyone in it. They were a good group of kids, and the only thing that would have made the suite better was to have Pence in it, but Pence went to a different school, so he could get a degree in engineering. It made Roxas sad that his friend wasn't with the rest of the gang, but he knew Pence was very smart,and Roxas wanted him get the most out of life and his intelligence. Besides, they could always visit each other, right? It wasn't like he was gone and out of their lives forever.

In fact, Pence was on Skype with Hayner right after Roxas got out of class.

"Oh, hey, Roxas! Pence and I were just talking about you!" Hayner said.

The blond smiled as he pulled his keys out of the lock and closed the door behind him. "Hey, Pence," he said. Shrugging his backpack off onto his bed, he made his way over to Hayner's side of the room. "I was thinking about you earlier." He stared directly into the webcam that clipped to his roommate's laptop, only seeing his friend out of the corner of his eye.

"Sheesh, Roxas, that's creepy. Look at me," and he did, which made Pence continue, "Boy, I feel popular. It seems like everyone is thinking of me today."

"Oh?"

The pixelated version of their friend smirked, which prompted Hayner to frown. "Oh, yeah," he said, smug, "I got a text from poor old Hayner saying that he was lonely because everyone was in class or doing other things that didn't include him. You should really be more considerate, Roxas."

"Oh, shut up, Pence! I did not say I was lonely! I said I was bored!" Hayner yelled. He turned his computer away possessively, shutting the lid halfway.

Roxas laughed, looking over to the other blond. "I'm sorry," he joked, "I've been really selfish. Want me to ask my professors if you can sit in during my classes?"

"You can suck it, Roxas," Hayner rolled his brown eyes and gave him the finger.

Chuckling lightly, Roxas went back to his bed to unzip his backpack. "You going out again?" his roommate asked, noticing in the mirror on the door that Roxas wasn't making himself comfortable. "Thought you were done for the day after Irish Poetry."

"Yeah, I am," Roxas said, "but I have some things I need to do. I need to drop off some paperwork for my workstudy position before I can officially start working tomorrow. I think I have things waiting for me at the library, too."

"Okay," Hayner said.

Roxas was silent for a moment. "I also wanted a 600 Lb. Gorilla Cookie." he murmured quietly.

"Ugh, Pence! Roxas is going to become addicted to those damn cookies again!" Hayner cried.

"Will not!"

"Roxas, if you keep eating those cookies, you're going to turn into a six hundred pound gorilla," Pence said through the speakers.

"I'll have you know," Roxas said pointedly, "that I have not eaten a single 600 Lb. Gorilla Cookie since coming back this semester."

"Yeah, and once you start again you wont stop," accused Hayner.

600 Lb. Gorilla Cookies were sold in the convenience store on campus. They were baked fresh daily, so if you got there when the place opened, they were often still warm and gooey. During his freshman year, Roxas enjoyed the cookies so much that he ate one every single day. Sora had been the first to notice the habit and claimed that he had an addiction to the sugary baked good. It was true that he loved them, but Roxas could stop eating them anytime he wanted...

"You just don't understand," Roxas mock pouted, slinging his backpack over his shoulders once again. Wearing his lanyard, he opened the door, his voice turning to its normal tone, "see you, guys."

"Bye, Roxas!"

Roxas made his way to the elevator. He was glad to have spoken to Pence for a bit. Even though they returned to campus a week ago exactly, it felt like it was much longer since he had seen his chubby friend. Roxas, Hayner, Pence, and Olette all lived in the same town, Twilight Town, growing up, so they always hung out before college. Now, they could only spend their summers together, and the latest summer was no different, this time with occasional visits from Sora, Riku, and even Namine.

As much as he missed how things used to be, Roxas was glad he came to RGC. It was a cozy college with great professors and small class sizes. They gave out financial aid like it was candy and its graduates almost always found careers in fields they desired. He and his friends were all able to get in, too, even Hayner, surprisingly enough, but Roxas wondered if that was partially due to his wealth. Hayner's father, whom he'd always known as Mr. Dempsey, was a businessman whose fortune allowed him to buy many things, including a vacation house in Twilight Town which Alice, Hayner's mother, quickly turned into their permanent residence.

Pushing the button to go to the lobby, the doors of the elevator shut and so did Roxas' eyes.

* * *

Axel the librarian. Demyx laughed when he heard that was Axel's workstudy assignment. Axel had replied with a _fuck you_.

It wasn't so bad, really, but then again, it was only his second day on the job. All the fiery redhead had to do was check books out or in and keep track of how many people came to the library during his shift. So far that day, only twelve had. He'd been working the library for almost two hours. Shouldn't more people have come in?

Axel guessed that it was because it was the start of the semester that the library was so dead. Classes had only barely begun, so why would there be a need to utilize its services?

Other than his two main responsibilities, Axel could do pretty much what he wanted. He was allowed to take out his laptop, most likely to encourage workers to do homework, but Axel went on Facebook and played online chess. Sometimes he went on eBay and emailed things of interest to his mom. The only rule was not to have headphones in. Axel would find away around it though because he was clever.

Loading up AIM, he saw that Demyx was online. He quickly started a conversation.

Firecrotch08: Dem, watchin paint dry would be more interesting than being here.

The screen name Firecrotch08 was created because Demyx, Marluxia, and Larxene all lovingly called him such. The 08 was tacked on at the end simply because it was the redhead's favorite number.

9XSitarX9: U gotta work so u can afford 2 buy me nice things =)

Firecrotch08: gotta keep you pretty, huh dem?

Firecrotch08: but your why i cant have nice things.

9XSitarX9: ='( u don't mean that

Firecrotch08: oh fine, i'll buy you a RGC shirt.

9XSitarX9: =O

9XSitarX9: ill wear it like a prd parent! lol

Axel was very much used to Demyx's chatspeak and overuse of emoticons, but it did concern him. Axel once saw a video on YouTube that warned that you could find out how many cats you would own in old age simply by taking the number of smilies used in a chat and multiplying that number by the amount of unnecessary exclamation points, and then dividing the whole thing by the amount you said you LOL'd in a conversation when you actually didn't. Axel guessed that Demyx would have thousands of cats.

Looking at the door, Axel saw a person with unique hair nearing the entrance to the library.

Firecrotch08: 13!

9XSitarX9: ?

Making it look like he was not actively paying attention to the sole almost visitor to the library, Axel tidied up a small pile of books by the scanner. When he was sure the the person was coming in, he reached for the counter and clicked it once.

_Thirteen_. The thirteenth visitor to the library that day.

A young man walked in. He was blond and small, carrying a heavy looking backpack containing God knows what on his shoulders. Axel would later learn that the real weight inside was that of the world.

Axel was expecting the visitor to stroll past the front desk and go straight to the shelves, though that's not what he did. The boy walked right up to Axel, looked him straight in the face, and said all in one breath, "Hello, I have things to pick up."

Someone easily could have misinterpreted this person. The quickness in the speech could have been mistaken as urgency, or maybe even rudeness, though such an assumption was wrong. To Axel, the words felt like lines that were rehearsed perfectly time after time, but delivered wrong when it actually mattered. It sounded awkward and nervous. The direct eye contact was slightly unnerving, with rigid posture, to boot.

But, God, was he beautiful.

He wore a dark grey shirt that fit perfectly to his body and it emphasized how tiny he was. _He must hardly weigh a thing,_ Axel thought. Around his slender neck hung a college issued lanyard with various things attached to the jump ring: an empty ID holder, a Tamagotchi, keys, and a toy paopu fruit. The assortment of items stopped at where his navel probably was hidden, which made Axel notice a bit lower than he probably should have. He was wearing brown cargo pants that were loose fitting on the bottom, but tight at the top, which looked undeniably sexy on him.

What was most stunning about this person was his face. He had pale skin, with lips only that were only a tint or two pinker. He had a thin nose that was round at the bottom. And his eyes... Axel used to think that his acidic green eyes were attractive, but his were no comparison to those before him. They were big, adorable eyes, a color that no human should possibly own; a blue so brilliant that Axel could only think of Lapis lazuli without its flecks of gold. But color was not the only thing that the redhead saw in the smaller boy's eyes. There was determination and tentative friendliness.

Axel never wanted to know someone more in his entire life.

"Can I have your student ID?" Axel asked, instantly regretting not saying hello back as he ran his fingers through his thick, red ponytail. The the part of his hair that wasn't tightly trapped within the elastic was poofing out at the bottom. It never stood to be contained for too long, but Axel figured that he should try not to look scary, and Axel had learned hard way that some people find his hair off-putting.

"Here you go," he said, already holding his ID and stretching his arm out for the workstudy to take it. On the exposed flesh, Axel noticed a bruise that was starting to brown.

"Thank you," Axel replied. Once in his hand, the man looked down at the flat plastic. _Roxas L'Etoile._ It was a name that Axel never saw in all his twenty-two years and he didn't think he would see another piece of plastic with the same one. _Roxas_. "Nice name, Roxas. Are you really a star? Or will you be in the future?" he said, not quite sure if he should have gone there, making a joke about the uncommon surname, especially with such familiarity to a person he didn't know.

It was Roxas' turn to say thanks. Shaking his head, a very small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "I'm destined for common things, I'm afraid," he said and Axel found that he didn't believe that at all.

Grinning back, Axel's teeth flashed. His long canines gleamed wickedly. Saying nothing, he rested his elbows on the hard surface and let them take most of his weight as leaned forward. Axel didn't know what came over him, but it filled him with a euphoric feeling and it transformed him into a flirt.. "So, how can I help you, Roxas?" he asked sweetly, enjoying how good it felt to say the young man's name. He forgot he had already been told what he needed to do.

"Uh, to pick up a few books," supplied Roxas.

"Oh," Axel deadpanned. "Right, sorry. I'm a little new here. Here to the library, here to the campus..." he trailed off.

Roxas nodded. "I thought you didn't look familiar. I think I would have recognized you." He stopped momentarily. "But it's alright."

"Heh, my looks are pretty eccentric, aren't they?" The fact was undeniably true.

The blond shook his head vigorously. "No, I didn't mean it like that. Radiant Garden isn't that big, so everyone is a familiar face even if I never met them."

Axel's grin widened. "Well, even if you don't admit it, I do have an appearance to remember." He looked into Roxas' blue eyes. They met briefly, for a moment, until the shorter man broke it to cast his gaze aside. Not letting that dissuade him, Axel continued. "So, what year are you?"

"Oh, I'm a sophomore," Roxas said. He rubbed his arms. "Are you a transfer student?"

"Yup," Axel said, "I'm a junior and I transferred from TTCC."

"Where's that?"

"Traverse Town. It's about, I dunno, three hours away from here?"

Roxas touched his mouth, seemingly in thought. "My brother is living with someone there in Traverse Town, but I've never been. Is it nice there?"

"Yeah, definitely." Axel informed the blond, "It's not quite a town, not quite a city, but I love it because it's like, the meeting place for everyone who doesn't belong." He gestured to himself. "It's got some really cool people, some pretty neat shops. There's this little candy store that doubles as an ice cream parlor and there's this shop that sells beads and shit. I know the guy who owns that place. Biggest pothead ever."

Roxas chuckled, which only egged Axel to continue further. "I mean, you sort of have to be on drugs if you name your store _Off The Beaded Path_."

"I'm definitely going to have to visit my brother so I can go to this place."

They slipped into an easy-going quiet. The only sounds that could be heard was their own light breathing and that of the fans working hard in the background.

"So, books," Axel said, going back to his more professional tone. The flirtatiousness in him boiled down. "Hold on."

Taking the ID, he went into the back where there was a trolly with things on it. It wasn't hard to spot Roxas's items; there were so few items on the cart and the person who received them sorted them into piles. Prolonging getting them for as long as possible, he looked down at the picture of Roxas. A tiny visage looked up to him.

"I have them," he said, putting the stack next to the check-out computer, "these three, right?"

Roxas peered at the spines and nodded.

"Alright, well, I'll need to type all these into the computer manually. The scanner's not working today. I'm really sorry," he lied, not quite sure why. If 'broken' meant 'not turned on,' it would have been the truth. He had been unable to help himself though. In all of his jobs, Axel never enjoyed speaking to a customer or client more. He wanted to prolong the experience for as long as possible, since it was likely that they would never talk outside the library.

Axel began to work. He first started by inputting Roxas's ID number, and then went from that to the books. When he punched half of the numbers in for the second book, he said, "I think it's really cool how you can get all these books at the library. I never knew how the system worked until I came here."

Roxas's blue eyes danced with mirth. "I didn't have to buy most of my textbooks last semester. I just borrowed them for free."

Axel was impressed. "Really?"

"All you need to do is request them in time for your classes and there should be no issue. If you're taking a lot of English classes, I think you should do it." Roxas said.

"I'll keep this in mind."

The books were done and waited expectantly for their temporary master to retrieve them. Axel pushed them across the surface. The blond took them, smiling.

"Thank you," he said. Roxas took his ID back and tucked it in its holder. He started walking away before he paused and turned his head. "It was nice meeting you. I hope you like it here."

Just like that, he was gone. The library was as empty as ever and the only proof of Roxas's visit was the aching feeling he left in Axel. A certain shade of misery hung over him like a cloud as he realized he did not introduce himself. He probably never would.

Giving up, Axel let his shoulders slump. He returned to his computer, to Demyx, who waited as words in a window on a screen.

_Roxas L'Etoile._


End file.
